On Thursday last week, Hamilton’s city councillors voted 9-1 to return fluoride to the city’s water supply. There was a fair bit of misrepresentation going on ahead of the decision – including the claims that it would cost at least $100,000 and this was unbudgeted (both untrue). And there was the predictable outrage after the […]
Continue readingMonth: March 2014
‘slow life’ – corals and anemones strut their stuff
When I was a kid we used to go to the beaches of the Mahia peninsula most weekends. (Well, memory says 'most weekends' – it might not have been that often!). Sometimes we'd stop at the sweeping sandy shores of Blue Bay, but on other days we'd go round to the exposed rocky coast & […]
Continue readingmost excellent epiphytes
A couple of years ago I spent a lovely afternoon in the huge domed glasshouses of Singapore's "Gardens on the Bay". The 'cloud forest' was my favourite – both for the concept & for the wonderful range of epiphytes on show there. So you'll understand that I enjoyed reading about it again on this blog, […]
Continue readingteaching plant life cycles – trying a different approach
For whatever reason, I find that many students seem to struggle when it comes to learning about plant life cycles. The whole sporophyte/gametophyte, meiosis/mitosis thing really gets them – & that’s even before we start looking at how the life cycle is modified in different groups of plants. Yes, the textbook has lots of diagrams […]
Continue readingit’s not all fun & games being a crocodile, you know
Crocodiles (& their relatives, alligators) are generally viewed as top predators. They're 'ambush' hunters1, lunging up out of the water to snatch at their prey at the last moment. But sometimes, they come off second-best. Check out this video on the National Geographic site, of a jaguar stalking, catching, & killing a caiman. And how […]
Continue readingfluoridation – if you fail in the courts, try fear (& more misinformation)
Since the High Court judgement came out there's been a lot of news coverage on this issue – and an awful lot of misinformation & just plain fear tactics (particularly in social media) from those opposed to community water fluoridation (CWF). Last night's news coverage had this from TV One News (skip to 5:43) and […]
Continue readingcommunity water fluoridation is scientifically sound – high court judgement
We've been waiting a while for the High Court judgement on the scientific validity of community water fluoridation, and that judgement is now available. And it supports the science – see this report on the OneNews webpage. (Hamilton City Council, please take note.) The following content is from the Science Media Centre website: Court rejects fluoridation […]
Continue readingan entertaining take on plants & plant cells
The new semester kicks off tomorrow & right now I'm adding resources to my first-year bio moodle page & running through the powerpoints for the week's lectures. After a couple of introductory sessions we're diving into the section of the class that focuses on plants, and I'm giving some serious thought to how I present […]
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